Mu Xueshi kept his lonely vigil among the grass without the slightest complaint.
In the past, even when Aunt Chen merely pointed a finger at him and nagged, he would grow impatient. Yet now that he was doing something for the Third Prince, Mu Xueshi felt not the slightest reluctance. In fact, he would have preferred that the Third Prince remain inside the chamber asleep so that he could finish this matter by himself.
Tonight the moon was unusually bright.
Mu Xueshi’s spirit was unusually high as well. He could not help thinking that if the Third Prince were to come out and admire the moon with him, it would be a truly beautiful moment.
Under the moonlight, even without revealing his true appearance, Mu Xueshi was breathtakingly beautiful. Especially when the silver light washed over his cheeks, those large, radiant eyes of his shimmered like twin jewels, dazzling anyone nearby until their hearts faltered.
At first those eyes were full of brilliance.
But as the night deepened, that brilliance gradually dimmed.
Mu Xueshi did not feel the slightest hint of sleepiness. What he feared was that the Yinglan Flower might not bloom tonight.
During the previous nights, when he had failed to see it bloom, he could still console himself with excuses—telling himself that perhaps he had been lazy and had not waited until the very end.
But now, he stared unblinkingly at the ground.
And yet… he did not even know where the Yinglan Flower was.
At this moment Mu Xueshi could not help but feel a trace of resentment toward the Third Prince’s habit of keeping matters low-key. After all, his own strength alone was limited. If the Third Prince had simply ordered all of his subordinates to keep watch on this day, then if the flower truly bloomed, the chance of missing it would be extremely small.
Originally Mu Xueshi had planned to summon several servants to wait together with him.
But after some thought, he gave up the idea.
He felt that those servants would not truly care about the Third Prince’s affairs. They would only be completing a task. If they missed it and simply claimed the flower had not bloomed, it would amount to nothing.
Mu Xueshi steadied himself and forced his attention to focus.
After sitting on the grass for too long, his waist began to ache and his back grew sore, so he stood up for a while. Yet his eyes remained fixed stubbornly on the surroundings, not daring to relax even for a moment.
Whenever his eyes felt tired, whenever exhaustion threatened to creep in, he would recall the unbearable agony of his previous attacks. Instantly his mind would jolt awake again.
Hour after hour passed.
The moon rose in the east, drifted across the sky, and finally began to sink in the west, ready to retreat beyond the horizon.
Still, the Yinglan Flower showed not the slightest sign of blooming.
Mu Xueshi’s hands and feet turned cold.
His heart grew even colder.
If he waited the entire night only to fail… he felt he would collapse.
Sun Ye had been standing guard in the courtyard the entire time.
He did not enter the house to rest.
The Third Prince had ordered him to remain outside and keep watch over Mu Xueshi, reporting immediately if anything unusual occurred.
Inside the inner chamber, the Third Prince had not slept either. Instead, he took the opportunity to handle the tasks the Emperor had assigned to him. Occasionally he would lift his head and glance outside.
Seeing Mu Xueshi standing in the courtyard, full of energy, the Third Prince would simply lower his head again and continue reading the cursive script documents before him.
He was waiting.
Waiting for Mu Xueshi to grow tired.
Once Mu Xueshi became sleepy, he would go out and carry him back.
If he were to call him back now, Mu Xueshi would certainly refuse a hundred times over.
Yet time passed until dawn approached.
The Third Prince finally noticed that Mu Xueshi was still standing blankly in the small courtyard.
Looking at that solitary, slender figure standing alone in the cold night, the Third Prince at last rose to his feet and walked outside.
Suddenly—
Mu Xueshi bent down.
Then, like an arrow released from a bowstring, he dashed straight toward the Third Prince, his face filled with wild excitement.
Panting heavily, Mu Xueshi held something tightly in his hand.
It was a freshly bloomed Yinglan Flower.
Tiny drops of dew still clung to it, sliding down onto Mu Xueshi’s long, pale fingers and making them appear even more delicate and translucent, like polished jade.
Mu Xueshi was so happy he did not know what to do.
Like a foolish child, he circled around the Third Prince again and again, waving his arms and gesturing wildly as he excitedly described how difficult it had been for the flower to bloom.
But as he laughed…
The smile slowly faded from his face.
He stared blankly at the small milky-white flower in his hand.
Then he looked at the Third Prince.
The Third Prince’s expression was unchanged—calm and composed as always.
Yet Mu Xueshi’s tears suddenly burst forth like a flood after the breaking of a dam.
Only then did he remember.
The Gu Master Mo Ru had once said that to completely cure the Third Prince of the parasitic Gu poison, one had to take the pollen of the Yinglan Flower and smear it on both sides of the back of the hands.
But the pollen of the Yinglan Flower…
During his frantic run just now, it had already been shaken away.
There had been pitifully little of it to begin with. Once it fell to the ground and the wind carried it off, it vanished without a trace.
“The pollen… is gone…”
Mu Xueshi choked out the words through his sobs.
The Third Prince felt his heart stab with pain when he saw the despair on Mu Xueshi’s face.
For several nights, Mu Xueshi had kept watch like this. Every day he would eventually fall asleep among the weeds, only to be carried back to the bedchamber by the Third Prince. The next morning he would wake up filled with regret.
Only the Third Prince understood how much effort had gone into it.
As for himself, he had never felt any physical discomfort from the Gu poison. That was why he had never truly cared.
But he had never expected that this single mistake would cause Mu Xueshi such devastating grief.
The Third Prince said nothing.
He simply drew Mu Xueshi into his arms and gently comforted him.
Even though the Third Prince’s expression had softened into rare tenderness, Mu Xueshi could not feel any happiness.
Because of his own carelessness…
The Third Prince would have to endure another month of suffering.
The moment that thought crossed his mind, Mu Xueshi could no longer hold back.
Buried in the Third Prince’s embrace, he broke into uncontrollable sobs.
Futile Devices Scans 
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